Armor-plate.



Patented Nov. 26, I90l. n. w. GAHRIGUES.

A R M 0R P L A T E.

(Application filed Dec. 29, 1897,)

(No Model.)

//YVE/VTOR" Emu j I :UNIT'ED A EK D F E DAVID W, lGARRIG UE S, orwoonlsnitv, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF oNE-' HALF TO ELBERT A. CORBIN, orPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.-

Aa oa- LA-Ts;

.sPnomcArIoN forming as of as Fatent No. 687,398, dated Inevembei 26,1901. l ma filed December 29, 1897. Serial No. 664,494. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.- Y

Be it known that I, DAVID W. GARRIGUES, of Woodbury, Gloucester county,New Jersoy, have invented an Improvement in Armor-Plate, of which thefollowing isa sp'ecification: Y

My invention has reference to the manufacture of armor-plate forvessels, fortifica 1 tions, &c. and it consists of certain'improve- 1oments which are fully set forth in the following specification and areshown in the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

It is the practice to manufacture armorplate of great thickness and areaby special 1 5 processes, most notably those known as Har-v 93 and Kruppprocesses. In these proc- -esses the'low-grade steel, such as Bessemer,

istreated in large furnaces to high temperatureswhile surrounded with acarbonaceous mass and with the exclusion of oxygen. The processes arevery expensive to carry on, as

the great-thickness of the plates necessitates an exceedingly long anduniform action of 'heat. Furthermore, if the temperature and.

the conditions do not remain uniform there is unreliability in theresulting product, the center not being reduced to the condition oftemper which is essential -to-the proper tensile strength and resistingqualities. The

0 thinner the plates. the more easily and accurately can the conditionsor characteristics of- .the metal desired be secured, and conse-'quently the product per weight is greatly reduced in cost of production.It is therefore 3 5 desirable. to form the plates of as little thicknessas possible so far as the metallurgical or tempering process isconcerned. Further more, in the manufacture of the thick armorplates nowand heretofore being manufac o tured other difficulties arisename1y, the

enormous mass of metal to be made into a plate necessitates the greatestcare incastin g i and subsequent treatment-to avoid blow-holes and tosecure homogeneousness, attainment 5 of which necessitates the mostcostly machinery and the highest class of skilled labor to manipulateit. The very nature of these thick plates prohibits them from having any.special grain or fiber'which is so important wherever a tensile orresisting strain is liable to take place. Furthermore, plates of enor I.mous thicknessheretoforeemployed are ex;

ceedingly heavy in proportion to their resisting qualities, andconsequently battle-ships protected by such plates. to resis't'thepiercing power of shot fromthe largest guns are ob-' jectionablytop-lieavy, and as guns are being constantly made more pow-erfulit-will.b,e, i 1 1'1 possible under the present construction of I such vesselsof warjto; avoid, making them dangerously top-heavy-so long as thepresent-- method of manufacturing armor-plate-there for is continued. iThe object of my invention is to produce. armor-plate which shall have"advantageous features over=t-he armor-plate heretofore em.- ployed,while removing much of the .6bjec-- ftion nowexisting. I 3;,

The results of my improvements may be specified as follows: I .79 IFirst, the armor being built up of nu ine1'--' tousplatessecuredtogetherduring'orprevious to its application to the shipenables the manufacture of the plates to be reduced any desiredthicknessas, for example, an inch or inch and a half or more'asagainsteighteen inches-with the resultinglcheapness of constructionthroughouhancl in beingable to--- treat the steel plate so produced inamanner. to secure accurately the exact temperor tensile strengthrequired at a greatlyvred'uced cost per weight of the metal treated.This also secures the same resistance to penetration with less thicknessand weight. Secondly,-by' forming the plates compara-- 8 tively thin asto thickness 1 am enabled to take advantage of the rolling operationsfor reducing the heavybillet into the platewith the result ofsecuringthereby the greatly-m creased tensile strength due to thecon'den- 9o sation of the mass under the compressing ac tion ofthe'rolls, together with the increased ductility produced by saidrolling and the creation of a desirable fibrous condition,- ex- IOUtions and the line of juncture of the several plates made to breakjoints with those of the other plates of difierent layers. By thisconstruction the compound or built-up plate of armor so produced securesthe advantage of the fibrous condition of the metal in every direction,securing thereby a great obstructing power to penetration.

Fourthly, abuilt-up arm orprotection made as herein described issubstantially continued from one end of the vessel to the other or overthe entire length or so much as is protected, following the curvaturesof the vessel, with the result of greatly increasing the resistance tostrains upon the ribs or skeleton of the vessel than would result withindependent heavy similar sections of massive armor heretofore employed.

Fifthly, by constructing my improved armor in plate-sections I amenabled to gradually reduce the. thickness of the armor as we descendbelow the water-line to secure the necessary protection to the properdepth without an abnormal weight.

Si'xthly, from my improved construction of armor-plate I am enabled toconstruct the interior or skeleton of the vessel in a stronger conditionthan is customary, as well as thereby reducing its cost of constructionfor a given strength.

My invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which v Figure 1 is a cross-section of one side of a vesselhaving my im proved armor-plate thereon. Fig. 2 is afront elevation ofaportion of the armor with parts of successive layers broken away toshow the direction and grain of the plates. Fig. 3 is a side elevationof a battle ship with my improved armor plate thereon, and Fig. 4 is anenlarged sectional view showing how the adjacent plates may be securedtogether in the built-up armor.

A is the skeleton or framework of the vessel, and with my improvementsthe ribs may be made upright or without angular portions or offsets toreceive the armor. By this construction the interior capacity of thevessel is increased and the cost of construction of the framework ismaterially reduced.

B is the armor. This armor consists of a series of layers of plates 0 DE F and others to aggregate-the desired resistance, each composed of aseries of plates of preferably great length compared with their width,accurately shaped as to width so as to fit snugly side by side. Thejoints may, if desired, be made on a bevel, as indicated at M in Fig.4-, though this is not essential. The plates 0 immediately adjacent tothe hull of the vessel proper are preferably made of greater thicknessthan the other plates, though still retaining a thickness preferably notexceeding three inches. The outer plates are secured together atintervals by screws I, passing over two or more of the plates and havingtheir heads upset or driven down into tapering openings 2', as clearlyindicated in Fig. 4, the upper screw therein being shown before theriveting action, while the lower screw shows how the end is riveted orupset to enable the next plate E to fit close upon the plate I). Thearmor so formed may be secured in anysuitable manner to the sides of thevessel by bolts J, passing through a portion of the plates or throughall of them and extending on the inside through the ribs of the vessel.Itwill be sufficient to secure one or two of the inner plates to thesides of the vessel by these bolts J and rely upon the screws or rivetsor other means of fastening between the outside plates to hold them inposition. Any number of layers G D E F may be employed. The thickness ofthe armor may thus be built up to that required and may be added to fromtime to time if thought advisable'in view of the increased penetratingpower of guns of later construction. The upper edges of the plates maybe covered by a cap K to prevent the entrance of water.

In Fig. 2 the armor-plate is shown corresponding to the middle portionof Fig. 3, and this figure has its layers so broken away as to indicatesuccessive layers of a series of plates each. It will -be observed thatthe length of the plates of each layer are arranged in differentdirections, so as to cause the grain of fiber of the plates ofsuccessive layers to lie at different angles or in ditferent directionsto present ditferent directions of greatest tensile strength as aresistance to the penetrating shot as it enters the plate. Aside fromthe resistance to piercing the plate on account of this increasedfibrous condition the greatest resisting power to the shot is presentedin ditferent angles as it enters the different layers, thus causing itto expend its power in lateral directions also, and thereby diminish thepossible direct penetration.

In supporting the armor upon the side of the battle-ship I prefer toarrange a step G longitudinally thereon at a distance below thewater-level and form this step of suflicient width to give a firmsupport for the wcightof the armor, and thereby remove as far aspossible the strain upon the bolts J. This step G maybe attached to theribs of the vessel in any suitable manner. edge may be beveled, as shownin Fig. 1, and the lower edges of the successive layers of thearmor-plates may also be beveled, as at e. In practice I prefer to makethe outer plates vertical and cause them to overlap the beveled loweredges of the inner plates, as at e. If desired, the same outer platesmay be continued as additional protection under the bottom of thevessel, as at H, toprotect it against torpedoes. It will be understood,however, that these commercial details of construction may be more orless modified withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. While Ihave described my improvements as-more specially applied to the armor ofbat- Its lower general construction and method of manufacture may beemployed for protectin'g'batteries of forts or any place or places wheregreat protection is necessary in either naval or military work.

It will be observed that the plates making up the armor may'be of greatlength, so as to avoid as far as possible any joints in the length, andespecially in the caseof the plate 0, which extends parallel to the stepG. These plates of the various layers maybe of any thickness desired,and in place of the outer layers being of smaller uniform thickness theymay vary in thickness. The construction of the furnace necessary forproperly tempering platesof this character would be one ofi great lengthand during the same operation of tempering one plate a large number ofsaid plates might be simultaneously tempered, and thereby secure greateconomy so far as fuel consumption is concerned. .The

time necessary for properly tempering plates may be assumedasapproximately equal to the square of the thickness, and itis thusevident that by making the plates of smaller thickness the temperingprocess may be extended entirely through the plate in a very shortperiod of time as compared with the thick armor-plates heretofore made,and, furthermore, the homogeneity both as to composition and tensilestrength will be far more reof fifteen to eighteen inches in thickness,as

will be readily understood, and consequently my lmproved armor-plate maybe applied and curved to the vessel while making up the completethickness of the armor, the screws or bolts I employ to unite the partsbeing put inplaceduring the building up of the armor on the vessel. Thisarmor-plate therefore become a homogeneous part of the sheathing of thevessel and greatly adds to its strength.

F fAnother very-important advantage of. my

' improved armor is that I may'secure greater resisting qualities in thethin plates .than is possible from the thick plates. Consequently I maysecure the same resisting power of the armor with a less thicknessthereof audof course with a less total weight. This has the advantage ofpreventing the vessel from be-' ing top-heavy, with the consequentdangers to a seagoing vessel.

It is evident that, if desired, my improved armor will permit of theadjacent layers belng made of different grades of steel to comblue the.advantages of a tough steel with one of greathardness. Thus, forexample, one or it in m in at town at nmunu steel may be interposedbetween layers of plates of more ductile character, such as barveyizedplates or highly-annealed steel. This will secure the necessary tensilestrength with a very large factor of resistance to penetration. q 1

I do not confine-myself to the minor details of construction of myimproved armor-plate, as these may be varied considerably withoutdeparting from ,the spirit of the invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. Armor for a battle-ship, consisting of a series of superimposedlayers each composed of a series of plates arranged substantially in thesame plane and parallel to each other and in which the fiber or grain inthe plates of each layer is arranged at a different angle than the fiberor grain of the adjacent layer or layers, and further in which theplates of the outer layer extend downward andover the lower edges of theremaining plates and united to the bottom of the vessel so as to form acontinuous sheathing over the porof the layers united together bysuitable bolts or rivets, means for holdiugthe armor-plate against thesides of the vessel while its main weigh-t is sustained by the sill orstep and an outer armor-sheathing comprising upright plates secured tothe outer surface of the above-described armor and extending downwardover the lower edges of said armorplates.

3. The combination of ahull of a ship hav ing arranged at a'distancebelow the waterline a longitudinal sill or step'seoured to the frame ofthe vessel, armor-plate supported by said sill or. step and comprising aseries of superimposed layers of highly-tempered steel plates each layerbeing composed of a series of parallel plates arranged at a difiereutangle than the plates in adjacent layers and all of the layers unitedtogether by suitable belts or rivets, means for holding the armor-plateagainst the sides of the vessel while its main weight is sustained bythe sill or step, and an outer armor sheathing comprising upright platessecured to the outer surface of the above-described armor and extendingdownward over the lower edges of said armor-plates and also inclosingthe longitudinal sill or step and united to the bottom of the vessel.

4. Armor-plate for a battle-ship, consisting of a series of superimposedlayers each composed of a series of plates arranged in the which thefiber or grain in the plates ofleach layer is arranged at a diflferen't.angle than the fiber or grain of the adjacent layer or layers, and inwhich the lower edges of at least a portion of the plates are beveledand the several plates of the various layers suitably united together byrivets or bolts.

5. Armor-plate for a battle-ship, consisting of a series of superimposedlayers each composed of a series of plates arranged in the same planeand parallel to each other and in which the fiber or grain in the plates0t each layer is arranged at a diflerent angle than the eemee fiber orgrain of the adjacent layer or layers, and in which the lower edges ofat least a portion of the plates are beveled and the several plates ofthe various layers suitably united together by rivets or bolts, and aseries of outer upright plates extending downward and over the beveledlower edges of the abovedescribed armor-plate.

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand. I

DAVID W. GARRIGUES. Witnesses: v

WM. L. EVANS, J. W. KENWORTHY.

